Fire tried in the heat of the day is his formation.
His word is spoken with the experience of the conflict and the tension of dailiness. Embracing the effort to live interactively, while centered, the Prophet remains a paradox. He is a mediating image carving an incomplete vision of the call to compassion.
In her lifetime, Louise’s concept of organizing people for works of charity shaped an image, a representation that the Church readily recognized. The bold outlines her life carved were but understatements on an attitude of presence which would be defined in any era. Louise’s faith embraced the incompleteness of self with the strength of the Spirit. Her need of fullness was balanced by the transparency of love.
Woman, pregnant with the Word
Within is the growing realization
Of the life that is carried
Moments of expansion
Dimension
Hope
Engendering
Joy
Ecstasy
Overwhelming love
Without comprehension
Of the presence within
To share the fullness of revelation
Impels journey
The need to touch the movement within another.
Realizing the fullness experienced
Bringing it to birth
O Christ, O Word present
Stretch our boundaries.
Expand our limitations.
Give new vision to what we see.
Jeremiah 1:4-8
The word of Yaweh came to me, saying
Before I formed you in the womb
I knew you:
Before you came to birth
I consecrated you:
I appointed you
To be a prophet to the nations.
I then said, “Ah, ah, ah, Lord Yaweh:
You see I do not know how to speak:
I am only a child!”
But Yaweh replied,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a child,’
for you must go to all to whom I send you and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of confronting with them, for I am with you to rescue you,” Yaweh declares.
Then Yaweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth and then said to me:
“There I have put my words into your mouth.
Look, today I have set you over the kingdoms, to uproot and to knock down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
My choice was to compose the body of the fetus with a multitude of faces, actually molded from students. The wax was then cut forming linear drawings with the cast images.
The fetus researched is 17 weeks, representing a developed yet fragile form in an upright position, before its rotation into birthing position. All the faces composing the body have opened mouths, reflective of the response to the prophetic command. Those who have seen life viewed with open eyes. The fetus alone has not beheld life. Thus its eyes are closed.
Conceptually, the faces represent all the hopes visualized by those supporting the life in the womb. Each personality is perceived in the unborn. A parallel reflection embodied in the faces is the genetic legacy imparted to the child at conception. All who have gone before the father and mother give life and heritage to this child.
Matthew 13:45, 46
Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value, he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
Inspired by the song, “I Found a Treasure,” written by Dan Schutte, the sculpture is based on this text of Matthew.
It depicts a woman who has found a pearl. By faithfully and patiently probing layer after layer, the treasure is discovered deep within her self. She sells all to obtain ownership. With joy and reverence it is held, possessed, yet open as gift to others so that the celebration of life and the happiness of the disclosure can be shared by all.
Who do you say that I am?
… an expression of a love relationship developed through prayer, exemplified in the rhythms of life. Figuratively, space must be created in which the movement of the Spirit is present; yet the delineation between figures becomes lost in the movement … where one begins and the other ends cannot be established. The viewer is invited to enter, to be part of the encounter since the Lord is not exclusive in movements with us, as “Lord of the Dance.”
Lazarus, 19 1/2 inches, is a prefigure of Christ. Yet Lazarus’ death and resurrection were incomplete. As a symbol, he images our death by separations of selfishness, isolation and determinism; wrapped in fear, desires and defenses. The call of Christ is that of rebirth in relationship to both God and humankind, a stance if transparency before the Lord. Within the meditation on John 11:43-44 is a command to family and friends to, “Unbind him, let him be free” and to complete the call that was begun by Christ.